Homeschooling and Permaculture

Hi y'all (I think this is my first post in the Cider Press)
There was a post about whether homeschooling should be a part of Permaculture in the Cider Press some time ago, and I have been thinking about it alot - I don't think I had sufficient apples to reply back then, so I was just thinking and considering writing a blog post on the subject. But now I can't find it (I chould have Bookmarked it I know...).

Well I finally wrote a blog post about it because I think it is an important subject - if it isn't allowed please let me know:

Homeschooling and Permaculture In a recent thread in the Cider Press on http://www.permies.com there was a question as to whether Homeschooling was a part of Permaculture. At the time I had not earned enough apples to answer with my thoughts and by the time I had I couldn’t find it. I have been giving it a lot of thought though, and thought I would write an blog post about it.

First of all – homeschooling is not mentioned in the Permaculture Designers Manual, not even in connection to Social Capital and People Care, so technically homeschooling is not part of permaculture per se.

Yet I feel very deeply that maybe it should be – for several reasons. This doesn’t mean that people who don’t agree with this or who doesn’t want to homeschool shouldn’t use permaculture in many other areas of life, I am as always open to everyone finding the way that works best for their family – even if I don’t agree, it is not really any of my business.

Many many Permies are also homeschoolers, and more and more homeschoolers are unschoolers. That doesn't mean that homeschooling has to be a part of permaculture though. But I think that the minute you start stepping away from the mainstream and question things that "have always been so" you will start to question almost everything... that at least have been my own experience. So for me attachment parenting lead to homeschooling and that led to permaculture - for some it is the other way around, and some don't see that any of these things coincide. For me it all rests on a philosophy of self-ownership, non-aggression and self-responsibility - which is what I want to live and what I want to teach my children. I find that both permaculture and unschooling rhymes very well with those values.

Many many Permies are also homeschoolers, and more and more homeschoolers are unschoolers. That doesn't mean that homeschooling has to be a part of permaculture though. But I think that the minute you start stepping away from the mainstream and question things that "have always been so" you will start to question almost everything... that at least have been my own experience. So for me attachment parenting lead to homeschooling and that led to permaculture - for some it is the other way around, and some don't see that any of these things coincide. For me it all rests on a philosophy of self-ownership, non-aggression and self-responsibility - which is what I want to live and what I want to teach my children. I find that both permaculture and unschooling rhymes very well with those values.

I LOVE the nursery that is both a nursery for plants and for kids because many of the moms work there that is exactly what I am aiming at with a family centred approach instead of a child vs. adult centred approach (to living as well as education).